Door-hanger



(No Model.)

W. O. KASSON.

DOOR HANGER.

No. 369,451. Patented Sept. 6,1887.

NITED STATES W'ILLIAM O. KASSON, OF CEDAR RAPIDS, IOXVA.

DOOR-HANGER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 369,451, dated September 6, 1887. Application filed September 11, 1886. Serial No. 213,292. (No model.)

To an whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM O. Kasson, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cedar Itapids, in the county of Linn and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Door-Hangers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to hangers and tracks for sliding doors; and the object of this invention. is to so improve the construction and arrangement of the parts as to admit of a perfoot adjustment of all parts of the track, to prevent undue jar of the door in opening or closing, to provide for the easy attachment of the hangers to the door and the putting of the same in position, to strengthen the track, and in other ways to improve upon the present methods in the construction of this class of devices.

The invention consists in the construction, arrangement, and adaptation of parts to the purposes in view, as will be fully hereinafter set forth and described.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 represents a sectional side elevation of the invention; Fig. 2, a sectional plan view of the middle portion of the track and of the connectinghanger; Fig. .3, a sectional end view of the same; Fig. 4, a vertical section of the lower part of the carriage and connective parts, and Fig. 5 end views of various forms of strengthening-plates as applied to the track.

For the sake of illustration, and because some of the features of the invention are specially applicable thereto, I have shown, substantially, the style of hanger and track as that in my former application touching the same subject-matter, for which Letters Patent were granted to me on the l-Ith of September, 1886, and numbered 348,976. Such adaptability will be more particularly indicated hereinafter.

Referring to the drawings, A is the track; 13 B B, the hangers; O O, the roller-carriage; 1), the door, and E E the studding of the partition.

The track is preferably of wood and made double, as indicated. It is not only desirable to adjust the track vertically, as claimed in my former application, but under some circumstances it is necessary to so adjust the track that the same shall. not be strictlylevel. It will be observed that in Fig. 1 the two studs at the left are shown out of plumb, exaggerated of course, so as to clearly illustrate this feature of the invention. If from any cause thepartition should settle so as to throw the door-frame out of line, as indicated, it would then be desirable to adjust the door with reference to this variation from the pcrpendicular. \Vhen closed, the doors should both hang piurnb and meet with a close joint at the middle, and when open they should hang true with the casing. Hitherto this has been partially provided for by making the hanger (the roller-carriage herein) adjustable with respect to the door. Of course this could only affect the hang of the doors, and was not designed to adapt the door to irregularities in the doorframe. This can only be done by making a corresponding adjustment in the surface of the track. The same can also be made to correct any slight variation from the perpendicular of the door itself in any case, and the vertical adjustment of the rollencarriage may thus be dispensed with. To admit of this slight sinuosity in the track I make the same flexible at certain points, and this is preferably done by sawing the track partially in two from the under side, as shown at a in Fig. 1. It might of course be cut quite in two, as indicated by the dotted line; but I wish to avoid the ar which the wheels would make in passing over the joint unless very close and perfect, and so I leave the track continuous on top. It is connected with the hanger at these points by a hinge-joint sufficient to allow the necessary flexibility, preferably by a single screw in each part of the track, as shown by the dotted outlines in Fig. 1.

The hanger is vertically adjustable on a wall-plate attached to the studding, as represented, and is adjusted by a screw connecting the hanger with the wall-plate, as more par ticularly described in my former patent referred to.

To admit of the easy attachment of the carriage to the door after the track has been put up and walled in I make a pocket in the middle of the track, in the case of double doors, or at any other convenient point, as may be desirable in the case of double or single doors. To provide for this pocket one of a ace lei.

the hangers, B, is extended laterally at the lower end, as shown in Fig. 2 and indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1. To the ends of these lateral flanges the ends of the respective tracks are attached, leaving a space intermediate of sufficient length to allow the rollers and carriage to pass through. After the attachment of the carriage to the door the vacant spaces in the tracks are filled by short sections of track A A, matching the ends of the longer sections by groove and tongue, dovetail, shiplap, or other suitable joints. I do not of course claim the pocket, broadly, since the use of a pocket in connection with the track for sliding doors is old.

The usual manner of stopping the door at the terminal closing point is to attach to the inner edge of the door a button somewhat longer than the thickness of the door, which is turned transversely to the opening in the jamb after the door is hung, and thus catches on the inwardly-projecting edges of the jamb. The effect of this is to cause more or less of a shock to the door and frame when the former is suddenly closed, and tends to rip and injure the jamb. To prevent thisI provide the carriage with a cushion, preferably of rubber, which strikes a stop, f, attached to the track at one or both its terminal positions. The construction of the cushion is shown so clearly in the drawings as to require no description. Instead of rubber, ametallic spring may be used. The object of the cushion isnot to cause any recoil of the door, but simply to case it of sudden jars, as specified. The stop f is a simple piece of iron or wood, preferably the former, extending across the two parts of the track, and is held in position by a single screw, it, passing through a plate, 1;, crossing the bottom of the track. In case it should be desirable to place the stop at the bottom of the track for convenience in adjusting it, or otherwise, the respective positions of the plate and stop may be reversed, the screw in that case passing through the stop; but it is thought that this will not be necessary, since the stop is easily adjusted in the position shown.

The stop serves an additional purpose when applied to the pocket, which is to hold the short sections of track in position, as shown in Fig. 3. It is also shown with a downward projection corresponding in width to the distance between the tracks, and this may serve to hold the parts of the pocket at the proper distance apart, regardless of the dovetail or other joint above referred to. Provision has also been made for the horizontal adjustment of the carriage on the door, so that it may be carefully gaged with respect to the stop, or adjusted for any other purpose. The limbs of the carriage terminate in suitable dovetail or T-shaped lugs, which engage with the corresponding groovein the plate d, extendinglongitudinally from the wider apertures therein, through which the lugs freely pass. A screw,

e, connects with the outer limb, and is journaled in a U-shaped lug, d, on the upper side of the plate. To connect the parts the screw is turned up close to the shoulder, when the lugs slip through the holes in the plate and the shank of the screw into its seat. The screw is then turned until the carriage is in the proper position.

In practice I use five hangers, supporting the track at so many points. In the case of very wide doors the sections of track are quite long, and it is desirable to strengthen them. This I do by means of a stiffening-strip of metal, A. I prefer a simple angle-iron of the form shown in the first of the series in Fig. 5, and attached as there shown. Other forms will, however, serve the same purpose, and some of these have been shown for the sake of illustration. comparatively light material and adds but little to the weight or cost of the track. I claim this improvement only-in connection with an adjustable track suspended in a manner similar to that shown.

All the other features of the invention may be used in connection with any track, more particularly double tracks, though of course the cutting of the tracks is only useful in connection with an adjustable track.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination of a track, cut through or partially through at its points of suspension, and an adjusting device, substantially as described, which raises or depresses both contiguous portions of the track equally, whereby the track may be adjusted at any point of suspension and without producing any offset in the upper surface of the track to obstruct the passage of the rollers from one portion of the track to the other, substantially as specified.

2. The combination of the described track, cut through or partially through by a single transverse kerf, and a hanger, substantially as described, having lateral lugs, to which the contiguous portions of the track are pivoted, and adapted to elevate or depress such portions of track simultaneously and equally, as and for the purpose set forth.

* 3. A sliding-door hanger having lateral extensions longitudinal to the track, to which separate portions of the track are attached, the inner ends of such portions of track, when so attached, being so far separated as to admit the rollers between them, and adapted to connect with a short pocket-section of track, substantially as specified.

4. An adjustable stop for sliding doors, consisting of the parts f, h, and 'i, constructed and adapted to be applied to the track, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

- 5. The combination of a stop, substantially as specified, attached to the track of a sliding door at any desired point, and a horizontally- In any case the strip may be of adjustable hanger having a cushion or buffer In testimony whereof I affix-my signature in adapted to strike said stop, substantially as presence of two witnesses.

and for the purpose set forth. f 6. The combination of the hanger B, the ILLIAM 5 short section of track A, and the clamp com- Witnesses: I

posed of the parts f, h, and 5, substantially as FRANK G. OLcoTT,

specified. D. O. M. LE ORQN. 

